Prologue: The Hidden Side of Things
by Deathmaywrite
Summary: Frisk is unsatisfied with the pacifist endings he keeps getting. He has a constant feeling like something is missing, but he isn't sure what. That is till one day he accidentally kills a Froggit. That day, when he gained his first bit of LV, he found who he had been missing. Someone who had been in the underground before them. Someone with red eyes and a green sweater.


**Prologue: The Hidden Side of Things**

Frisk had never been satisfied when he saved 'everyone.' He always felt like someone was missing. Like he couldn't quite figure out why, but he felt like there was someone waiting for his help, but he wasn't quite sure who. It wasn't until he accidentally killed a froggit and gained Lv that he found out who he hadn't saved. Someone who had always been hinted at, talked around, and side mentioned, but never real brought up, except by Asriel the day Frisk took everyone to the surface. The person he'd been failing to save all this time was Chara.

He honestly hadn't even realized that she'd been connected to him, or even existed as a spirit to be honest until that day. He talked to her and found she'd been there by his side ever since the first day he fell into the underground, his pure, living SOUL and DETERMINATION waking her dead and regretful one, and connecting her to him. She'd been watching every move he'd made, every run he'd taken ever since then, unable to contact him. Now, she was able to talk to him

They became fast friends, and yet, the Lv did something to both of them. It put Frisk in a curious mood, wanting to try something different, something new, something that could be fun. The Lv corrupted Chara, making her pushy to try killing more and more, becoming darker and darker each time they RESET. Every time, she became more and more visible, coming close to a ethereal , they tried full on genocide, and Frisk regretted the choice the moment he killed Papyrus. But he couldn't stop now, not since he'd gone so far. It wasn't until they reached Sans that Frisk really tried to pull out. He was done being a murderer, especially since he was only fifteen. Chara tried to stop him, the regret she had from her earlier life being turned into dark desires, a lust for blood and vengeance. With the help of Sans, who located and held down Chara's SOUL to keep if from taking over Frisk's body, Frisk reset the timeline.

Chara was unhappy to say the least, at first anyways. She didn't want to talk to Frisk, especially he hadn't just finished her or banished her from his mind. It confused her and confusing things pissed her off to no end. But, after a while, she found that she like seeing the monsters be happy, and get away unharmed. She loved seeing her mom in such a good mood, Papyrus' puzzles and quirky behavior around Frisk. She began to feel horrible for everything she'd ever done, everything she'd pushed Frisk to do, how she'd tried to control him. She couldn't live with herself with what she'd done. And seeing her family and not be able to talk to them or tell them anything was tearing her apart from the inside out.

When Frisk finally helped everyone get to the surface, after they'd used the artificial soul they'd created to help Asriel regain a body again, which Toriel and Asgore had insisted on once Frisk had told them it was possible to do, Chara went to tell Frisk goodbye. She wanted to let him lead a normal life. She'd tormented him for nearly a year, with all the RESETs they'd gone through, and said she didn't want to hurt him anymore. She was going to detach herself from Frisk and stay in the underground, to keep herself from causing any more problems down the road. Frisk wasn't having any of it though, stopping her in the middle of her goodbye. He told her she didn't need to say goodbye. In fact, it might've been time for her to say hello. Chara was confused as to what he meant, and asked him what he was talking about.

Frisk showed Chara the research, the plans, everything he'd done with Sans when Chara had gone to silently watch over her old family and friends. The machine they'd asked Sans to build for them. A machine that converted DETERMINATION into a living body, as long as the SOUL was present. Frisk avoided what Sans had originally built the machine for, but all the same, they were ready to try and bring Chara back.

Frisk currently stood in Sans hidden lab, hooked up to the machine, anxiously awaiting what was to come, as Chara's ghost and SOUL waited inside. Sans was hooking up the last of the DETERMINATION vials he had from some of Alphys' old experiments. The machine looked old and clunky, like a Time Machine from an old Hollywood movie, the large box, capsule in the middle, a large glass window, weird lights placed on the machine, lots of large, bulky looking buttons.

"kid, are you sure she's changed?" Sans asked, hesitantly, side glancing from his work to the determined frisk who was leaning on the chair next to him.

"One-hundred percent sure," Frisk nodded, still staring intently at the machine. Chara looked at Frisk from inside the machine, just outside the glass window of the machine. She wasn't sure if she should say anything, fearing it may make Frisk change his mind suddenly.

"Heh, welp, i trust your judgement kid. i can see you 'chara' lot about her. i just hope it all works out the way you want it too," Sans chuckled at his pun before continuing, "things may get a big 'frisky' if you're wrong. and we both know what might happen if you're wrong." Though Sans was cracking jokes, Frisk could tell Sans was nervous because of Chara's past record, so he tried to ease the tension.

"Trust me Sans, we'll have a 'Sans'ational time with here around," Frisk joked. Sans laughed, as did Frisk, Chara smiling slightly. Frisk's joke had eased the obvious tension in the room. Chara looked to frisk, a look of melancholy coming across her face.

"Why are you helping me, Frisk? After everything I've done, after how I hurt you, how I hurt everyone, what I could've done, after what I almost became, why are helping me come back?" Chara asked Frisk quietly, looking down at the floor. Frisk smiled, and responded with a kindness only he could show her.

"A world where I can't save everyone isn't a world worth living in Chara. And I want to- not, NEED to save you. I can't bear seeing you fall into a pit of despair." He put his hand to the glass and Chara put her own ghostly hand to where his was. "You don't deserve this. You deserve a chance to make things right, to live a full life, and I'm going to give you that." Before you could respond, he nodded to Sans.

Sans hit the switch and Chara squealed. Lights flashed, the machine whirred and came to life. Frisk grimaced slightly as DETERMINATION, which looked oddly like glowing blood, was forcefully drawn from his body. Sans hadn't had enough DETERMINATION from Alphys' own experiments to get the machine to work, so Frisk had offered some of his. While Frisk wasn't regretting his decision, he was regretting not taking something to numb pain.

Chara trembled from inside the machine as something bubbled all around her. She quivered and hugged her spirit tightly. And then, she felt warmth. She felt the machine shaking. She felt heat from the lights above her. Most of all, she felt a heartbeat. She gasped as she looked to realize her ethereal form was becoming something more physical, to say the least.

The machine finally stopped and Frisk and Sans sat in silence anxiously waiting to see the result of their machine. The door clicked open, lifting up and mist spread across the room. Frisk and Sans looked at each other silent laughter at how cliche this moment was. As the mist dissipated, a shadow stood in the doorway to the capsule, shaking. Once enough of the mist had disappeared, a young, fourteen year-old girl with red-brown hair, bright red eyes, and pale skin was revealed. She stood there in a red sweater with a yellow stripe, blue jeans, and some sneakers.

"Hey, it worked! I'm glad to see yo-oof!" Frisk gasped as Chara tackled him to the ground in a hug. She was sobbing freely now. Sans smiled at the sight, and Frisk smiled. He pat Chara's head softly, shushing her sobs. This was a different side of her he'd never seen, but his instincts had already kicked in and was comforting her immediately out of the habit of doing it for others.

Chara visibly shivered. After being a ghost for so long, she wasn't used to the heat of another living creature. She loved it, taking in the first real, living things she'd touched in years.

"Thank you, Thank you so much Frisk. I don't deserve this. Thank you," Chara babbled, still crying. Frisk sat there, smiling and giving her comfort.

"Hey, what else are friends for?" Frisk grinned at her and she laughed a little. Frisk stood up, then pulled Chara up. "C'mon, we've gotta go tell Toriel and Asgore," he grabbed her hand and pulled her along behind him, "They are gonna freak."

Chara giggled. "Oh, they won't be just freaking out. I think Dad'll faint."

Frisk nodded, "So true."

Chara waved back to Sans as they left. "Thanks Sans, I really appreciate your help."

"you're welcome kid. just make sure you stay safe on your way to tori's house. she'll kill me if you don't make it there safely," Sans replied jokingly. Frisk and Chara laughed as they ran upstairs.

"We will," they responded at the same time.

They ran out the door, Chara whispered to herself, "It can only get better from here." As they ran off, Sans smiled. This already seemed like it was going to go better than he'd thought it would. Suddenly, the phone in the pocket of his hoodie. He pulled it out to see that the call was coming from Alphys. She seemed giddy at the events that had just transpired. She had a camera in the lab, only because she'd request Sans let her video it for 'scientific' purposes. Sans couldn't care less and had let her install one. So obviously she had everything play out, and even though she was somewhat confused on what exactly what she'd seen, as she didn't know about Chara, and didn't remember past timelines, she understood somethings. She said three simple words that caused Sans to almost die of laughter.

"I ship it."


End file.
